Self-molding counter



1943. H. VOIGTMAN EI'AL 2,307,342

SELF MOLDING COUNTER Filed May 5, 1941 2 Sheets-Sheet 1 INV ENTOR5:ZZiwa/"d HUbt i'ma/L BY [fa/2g 3 165612229 AM "Owl & W

1943. E. H. VOIGTMAN El'AL 2,307,342

SELF MOLDING COUNTER Filed May 5, 1941 2 Sheets-Sheet 2 INVENTOR.Eat-wand If flggzi'man BY Harry .5. K6 ggg d a a M I m 9- Patented Jan.5, 1943 SELF-MOLDING comma Edward H. Voigtman and Harry B. Kellogg,Neenah, wis., assignors to Paper Patents Company, a corporation ofWisconsin Application May 5, 1941, Serial No. 391,830

Claims. (CI. 36-68) This invention relates to shoe stifieners,particularly counters and to an improved method of installing andlasting the same.

Heretofore, it has been the general practice in the shoe making industryto utilize two general types of counters. In the better grade shoes ithas been customary to use leather counters which are worked wet and arelasted to exact size. This procedure, however, involves an expensive rawmaterial; it requires that the counter blanks be conditioned or mulledin an atmosphere of 100% relative humidity for periods of from 24 to 72hours; and it necessitates a long drying period usually of from three tofive days on the last. The procedure is, therefore, not only timeconsuming, but it requires a very large number of lasts withaccompanying difliculties and expense in handling and storage duringmanufacture.

In the cheaper grades of shoes, it is common practice to use what areknown as pre-molded counters. These counters are usually manufactured ofa laminated material which can be molded to size by the use of heat andpressure. The counters are made prior to the shoe manufacturingoperation, and are installed during the lasting of the shoe. Thisprocedure permits very substantial reduction in the lasting time,usually from a matter of days to a matter of hours, but because it iseconomically impractical to maintain stocks of counters for more than afew of the many widths, in any given size, only a small percentage ofpreformed counters will fit the last perfectly. Hence, insofar as fit isconcerned, the preformed counters are very inferior to the leathercounters, also the need for maintaining large stocks of counters inorder to obtain even approximate fits, is highly undesirable from theviewpoint of the manufacturer.

The principal object of the present invention is to overcome thesedisadvantages of the prior art counters by providing a counter havingnormal physical properties similar to leather counters and thecapability of being molded to size during the lasting operation, butwhich can be dried or otherwise restored to its normal stiff conditionin a much shorter interval of time than is possible with leathercounters. In addition, it is desired to provide an improved counter inaccordance with the above stated principal object and which shallbereasonably inexpensive to manufacture which shall be capable of longand satisfactory wear when installed in a shoe.

As will hereinafter appear, these objects are accomplished by theprovision of an improved, composite counter and method of installing thesame. These will be made more apparent by reference to the accompanyingdrawings and the following description of certain preferred em=bodiments of the invention.

In the drawings:

Fig. 1 is a perspective view of a sheet of laminated materialparticularly designed for manufacturing counters or other stifieners inaccord-3 ance with the present invention;

Fig. 2 is a plan view of a counter blank which has been cut from a sheetof the laminated material illustrated in Fig. 1;

Fig. 3 is a plan view showing the blank of Fig. 1 following the skivingoperation;

Fig. 4 is sectional view on line Lt of Fig. 3;

Fig. 5 is a diagrammatic view illustrating one step in the installationof counters in accordance with the present invention;

Fig. 6 is a perspective view of a shoe equipped with counter and toe capstifieners in accordance with the present invention;

Fig. 7 is an enlarged sectional view on line l---! of Fig. 6 andillustrates the relation of the counter to the other parts of the shoe;and

Figs. 8 and 9 are perspective views, similar to Figs. 2 and 3, of a toecap stiffener blank before and after skiving.

The composite sheet material illustrated in. Fig. l is preferably of twoply laminated construction. The inner ply or sheet A, which serves asthe backing ply, is preferably a thin, flexible, water-resistantmaterial, having physical characteristics closely resembling those ofleather. The outer ply or sheet B, which serves as the stiffening ply,is a considerably stiffer sheet than the inner ply A. During the lastingoperation it is necessary to temporarily soften at least the stiff plyB. To make this possible, that ply is manufactured by impregnating abase fiber with a stiffening compound, which also acts as the primarybinder for the base fiber, and with a secondary binder which isrelatively flexible and which is resistant to agents which soften theprimary binder or stiffening agent. The two plies or sheets A and B arepermanently fastened together by an adhesive such as rubber. latex,which will not lose its strength during the subsequent counter formingoperations.

In a particularly satisfactory embodiment of the invention, the flexiblebacking ply A consists of a sheet of artificial leather which is made bysuperposing from about 20 to 40 sheets of thin, creped, cellulosictissue having a basis weight within the range of from about 4 to 9pounds for 480 sheets 24 x 36 inches, impregnating the superposed sheetswith rubber (latex), and then pressing and heat treating the product asdescribed in United States Letters Patent to Sewal No. 1,915,- 339, toproduce a sheet approximately .020 to .055 inch thick and having aweight of from 1.45 to .80 pounds per square yard, the total rubber(latex) content amounting to from about 28 to 37% of the dry weight ofthe sheet. It will be understood, however, that other artificial leathermaterials or similar products can be used. The flexible ply A should,however, have a thickness within the range of about .020 to .055 inchand should be sufllciently flexible to permit easy lasting without priorsoftening.

In this same embodiment of the invention, the sheet B is normally quitestiff and is made by superposing from about 50 to '70 sheets of thin,creped, cellulosic tissue having a basis weight within the range of from4 to 9 pounds for 480 sheets 24 x 36 inches, impregnating the superposedsheets with a mixture of latex and raw starch. pressing and heattreating the impregnated product to coagulate the latex and gelatinizethe starch in situ. The completed sheet has a thickness within the rangeof about .075 to .115 inch and has a weight of from about 2 to 3 poundsper square yard. The stiffness of this sheet can be varied by varyingthe starch content. Low percentages of starch (2 to 5% of the dry weightof the sheet) yield fairly flexible sheets, andhigh percentages ofstarch (7 to 14% of the dry weight of the sheet) yield very stiffsheets. The rubber content should be held within from 11 to 26% of thetotal weight of the dry sheet. The very best results were obtained whenthe starch content was about 8% of the total weight of the dry sheet andthe rubber contentwas about 16% of the total weight of the dry sheet.

In the manufacture of this embodiment of the invention, the flexiblebacking sheet A and the stiffening sheet B are laminated together, withthe adhesive in between, and then calendered. The calendering reducesthe thickness of the composite sheet from about 5 to 20%. As a result,in this embodiment of the invention, the flexible backing sheet A aftercalendering has a thickness within the range of from about .016 to .052inch, and the stiffening sheet B has a thickness within the range offrom about .060 to .110 inch.

Various other sheet materials may be used for the. stifi ply B. However,at least a substantial portion of this ply should include the followingthree constituents: (1) a fibrous base, which may consist of superposedsheets of thin, cellulosic tissue, water or air-laid flbrous felts, oreven a thick fabric capable of impregnation, (2) a primary binder orstiffening agent which may consist of starch casein, resins or othermaterials capable of losing their stiffness when soaked in a suitablesolvent, preferably a solvent which includes water and an organicsolvent, and (3) a secondary binder capable of holding the sheettogether when the primary binder has been softened,'i.' e. the secondarybinder must not be soluble in the same solvents which soften the primarybinder. Latex, artificial rubber, synthetic resins, and other materialare satisfactory for this purpose.

As will hereinafter appear, the best results are obtained when the sheetplies A and B constitute multiply impregnated products such as have beendescribed above, and particularly satisfactory results are obtained whenthe still ply employs starch and latex as the primary and secondarybinders respectively. A will hereinafter appear,

the starch-latex impregnated sheet can be readily softened by the use ofan inexpensive easy to use softening agent-such as a mixture of waterand alcohol-and counters made from this material will dry on the last ina reasonably short time.

In the manufacture and use of counters or other stiffeners made from theabove described materials, a counter blank such as is illustrated at I Iin Fig. 2 is cut from the laminated sheet. The edge of the blank II isthen skived as illustrated at 13 so as to expose an edge portion of theflexible backing ply A. This provides a. flexible edge in the finishedshoe while preserving the desired stiffness in the counter. If thestill? ply is of the starch-latex type, the skived blank is then soakedin a warm solution (about F.) of water and alcohol, water and acetone,or water, alcohol, and acetone for from about 10 to 15 minutes, asillustrated in Fig. 5. Either ethyl or methyl alcohol can be used withwater, in substantially equal proportions by volume. If acetone is used,the proportion should be about, from 45 to 55 parts of acetone to from55 to 45 parts of water, by volume. If the alcohol water-acetone mixtureis used, best results are obtained with the latex starch sheet materialby using 50% water, 40% ethyl alcohol and 10% acetone, by volume. Otherproportions can be used. Ordinarily, it will be found undesirable to usemore than about 65% or less than about 25% of the organic solvent orsolvents. If desired, the counters can be rendered highly waterresistant as an incident to the softening operation. To accomplish this,it is necessary merely to add a paraffin wax emulsion or similarwater-proofing agent to the softening agent and when this is done, theWater-proofing material will be deposited on the surface of the counterin a uniform fllm as the softening agent dries.

If the stiff ply utilizes a stiffening agent other than starch, or if anentirely different material is employed for the stiff layer, othersolvents may be indicated. It will be understood, however, that thematerial used for softening the stiff layer must not soften thesecondary binder; if it does the blank will fall apart.

After 10 to 15 minutes submergence in the softening material, the blanksII will be quite limp and each can be inserted between the quarterlining l1 and the outer stock IQ of a shoe, as illustrated in Fig. 6.The shoe can then be built around the last in the usual manner. Ondrying, which in the case of the starch latex material should notrequire more than 3 or 4 hours, the counter will be found to haveassumed the exact shape and size of the last, and will possess physicalproperties closely approximating those of leather counters. However, thetime consuming mulling and drying on-the-last operations, which are anecessary incident to the manufacture of leather counters, areeliminated withresultant very considerable economies in themanufacturing cost of the shoes without any loss of quality.

The novel material described in the foregoing can, of course, beutilized in the manufacture of toe caps, and suitable blanks, as out andas skived, are illustrated in Figs. 8 and 9 at 2| and 23. The positionof the toe cap in the shoe is illustrated in outline by the dotted lines25 in Fig. 6 similar to the counter.

As stated previously, the preferred material utilizes a multiply latexor rubber impregnated sheet for the flexible backing ply A and amultiply latex (or rubber) starch impregnated sheet for the stiff ply B,with a latex adhesive for permanently joining the two plies. Thiscombination permits the use of relatively inexpensive mixtures ofalcohol and water as the softening agent. At the same time it produces acounter which is very easy to handle during the lasting operation, andwhich will possess substantially the same physical characteristics asleather in the finished shoe. Various modifications in the sheet productand in the procedure described in the foregoing will suggest themselvesto those skilled in the art. It is desired, therefore, that theaccompanying claims shall be accorded the broadest reasonableconstruction consistent with the language appearing therein and theprior art.

We claim as our invention:

1. A multiply shoe stiffener comprising a backing ply of felted andcompacted cellulosic fibers held together by a binder which containsrubber in suflicient amounts to cause said ply to possess substantiallythe same physical characteristics of high flexibility and resilience asleather, and a stiffening ply permanently secured to said backing ply,said stiffening ply being normally much stifier than said backing plyand being formed of felted and compacted cellulosic fibers held togetherby a cooked starch, primary binder, which serves to stiffen said ply andwhich can be softened by mixtures of water and organic solvents, and bya rubber, secondary binder which is substantially unaffected by themixtures of water and organic solvents used to soften said primarybinder.

2. A multiply shoe stiffener comprising a backing ply which has athickness within the range of from about .016 to .052 inch and whichcomprises fibrous material held together by a binder which containsrubber in suflicient amounts to cause said ply to possess substantiallythe same physical characteristics of high flexibility and resilience asleather, and a stiffening ply permanently secured to said backing ply,said stiffening ply being normally stiffer than said backing ply, havinga thickness within the range of from about .060 to .110 inch andcomprising a fibrous base, a cooked starch, primary binder, and a rubbersecondary binder which is present in greater amounts by weight than saidprimary binder, said starch primary binder constituting from about 2 to14 percent of the dry weight of said stiffening ply, and said rubbersecondary binder constituting from about 11 to 26 per cent of the dryweight of said stiffening ply.

3. A multiply shoe stiffener comprising a backing ply havingsubstantially the same physical characteristics as leather, said backingply having a thickness of within the range of from about .016 to .052inch and comprising a fibrous base and a rubber binder which constitutesfrom about 28 to 37 percent of the dry weight of said ply, and astiffening ply permanently secured to said backing ply, said stiffeningply being normally stifier than said backing ply, having a thicknesswithin the range of from about .060 to .110 inch and comprisingcompacted cellulosic fibers, a.

cooked starch, primary binder impregnating said fibers, and a rubber,secondary binder also impregnating said fibers and being present ingreater amounts by weight than said primary binder, said starch primarybinder constituting from about 2 to 14 percent of the dry weight of saidstiffening ply and said rubber, secondary binder constituting from about11 to 26 percent of the dry weight of said stiffening ply.

4. A multiply shoe'stiflener comprising a backing ply of fibrousmaterial held together by a flexible binder in such amounts that said.ply possesses substantially the same physical characteristics of highflexibility and resilience as leather, and a stiffening ply permanentlysecured to said backing ply, said stiffening ply being normally muchstiffer than said backing ply and comprising a fibrous base heldtogether by a cooked starch, primary binder, which serves to stiffensaid ply and which can be temporarily softened by suitable solvents, andby a rubber secondary binder which is present in greater amounts byweight than said primary binder, said starch primary binder constitutingfrom 2 to 14% of the dry weight of said stiffening ply and said rubbersecondary binder constituting from 11 to 26% of the dry weight of saidstiffening ply.-

5. A multiply shoe stiffener comprising a backing ply of felted andcompacted cellulosic fibers held together by a binder which containsrubber in sufficient amounts to cause said ply to possess substantiallythe same physical characteristics of high flexibility and resilience asleather, and a stiffening ply permanently secured to said backing ply,said stiffening ply bein'g normally much stiffer than said backing plyand being formed of felted and compacted cellulosic fibers held togetherby a cooked starch, primary binder, which serves to stiffen said ply andwhich can be softened by mixtures of water and organic solvents, and bya rubber, secondary binder which is present in greater amounts by weightthan said primary binder, said starch primary binder constituting from 2to 14 per cent of the dry weight of said stifl'ening ply, and saidrubber secondary binder constituting from 11 to 26 per cent of the dryweight of said stiffening ply.

EDWARD H. VOIGTMAN. HARRY B. KELLOGG.

